Water into Wine (John 2:1-11). What does Jesus 1st Miracle say to you?

Celebrations in our life are important; they put a smile on our face and joy in our hearts. Today is a celebration for Isaac and his family and friends as he is baptised and we give thanks for the gift of his life. We celebrate, birthdays, weddings and anniversaries in our lives. Celebrations are important because they enable us to give thanks for a special moment in ordinary lives. They put joy in our hearts and a smile on our face.

Lives, of course aren’t always a celebration, there is the ordinary life to be led, for some this can be a struggle or seem to be superficial, for some there is the busyness of work and looking after children, for some there is illness and old age to cope with, for some there is grief, for some there is simply not enough time to fit everything in, for some there is the question about the purpose and hope in life. There are probably far more struggles than celebrations at times.

Where is the richness of life, where is its purpose and hope? Have you ever wondered where God is in the celebrations and the ordinary and the struggles, does God really want to know us and make a difference in our lives?

Yet here in John’s gospel we read about heaven breaking into earth, God making himself known in a man who is divine, God’s son Jesus Christ. At this celebration the smiles disappear quickly and in the stress and the busyness, the shame and embarrassment starts to rise. The groom is responsible for the catering, the whole village is invited, it lasts a week and the wine runs out leaving only water which is usually used to clean and purify the body before eating. Mary, Jesus mother, asks him to put a smile back on their face. Jesus turns the cleansing water for purification into the best wine. He declares who he is, God’s son, he only brings the best and he brings it in abundance and he declares that he is the one who will cleanse and purify those who follow him.

He puts a smile on the face of his mother and of the master of ceremonies and of his disciples and of the groom and of the guests. He makes them happy.

This is the first of the signs of Jesus divinity that John shows us in his Gospel, the first of the smile moments. There are many that John doesn’t tell us about but he concentrates on Jesus turning water into wine, healing a nobleman’s son, healing a lame man, feeding over 5000 people, walking on water to challenge us to trust him, healing a blind man, raising his friend from the dead and finally his own resurrection after his crucifixion. These are moments when heaven comes crashing into earth in amongst the ordinary and the struggles and they happen through Jesus Christ, they are smile moments, moments of joy and of hope.

We have a celebration here today, it’s a smile moment, and in baptism Jesus calls us to be his own, to believe in him and to know him in prayer. As Isaac grows up we pray that he will honour the promises made for him today and seek to make that commitment himself to belong to Christ. At that point the smile moment at celebrations becomes a smile moment in the ordinary and in the struggle, because Christ comes to live in us and us in him. God sees us through his son Jesus Christ and heaven comes to be with us and give us smile moments in the ordinary and the struggle as well as the celebration. It is through belief in Christ that we come to know the personal reality of God’s love and God’s love transforms our lives, God’s love changes situations, God’s loves removes shame, God’s love heals, God’s love reconciles and God’s love answers prayer, God’s love through his son Jesus Christ brings smile moments in the ordinary and the struggle as heaven breaks into your life and your life is transformed.

Perhaps you are here today to share in the celebrations, perhaps you are here because you are on Church duty, perhaps you are here to gives thanks and to praise God, perhaps you are here because you are struggling. No matter the reason, God wants to meet with you and show you his love, he wants to transform your life for the better, he wants to give you a smile moment. Perhaps today is the day we renew our trust in God because his son Jesus Christ wants to remind us that we can belong to him and he will come and live within us through his Spirit if we have faith and trust.

It’s this smile moment, a gift from God, that isn’t fleeting, but stays with us and can be always renewed so that we can know God’s presence with us on this day and throughout our week. Try asking God to give you a smile moment in your day and in your week.